The "Eureka" Moment
When I first started learning to code, I genuinely couldn't understand how people enjoyed it. It felt like a chore. But then, I built my first project. After wrestling with the basics, I hit that first Eureka moment. I realized: I actually enjoy this.
The "I Can Build Everything" Phase
As I kept learning, I’ll admit—I got a bit cocky. I thought I could build anything from scratch. I convinced myself I didn't need libraries or APIs; I was going to do everything myself.
Inevitably, I landed in a pit of my own making. That was my first major lesson: It is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel.
Solving My Own Problem
I decided to work on an actual SaaS based on a struggle I faced personally. I had two main pain points:
Resource Overload: How hard it is to find resources, cross-check them, sort them, and verify them before even starting to learn.
LLM Personality Bloat: I use LLMs for help, but I can't stand it when they try to act human. I don’t need a machine saying, "Great question! I’m so glad you asked that!" I want a research tool, not a cheerleader. I want it to stick to the context, not jump between personalities.
The Reality Check
I built the tool, started using it, and it was exactly what I wanted. But when I asked others for a review, they were lost.
I had made a classic mistake: I was selling a service from a developer's point of view. I wasn't speaking to the non-technical users who didn't understand how the tool actually solved their problems.
The Final Realization##
Coding a product and actually selling a product are two entirely distinct tasks. Both require specialized skills and immense dedication. Neither is "easier" than the other.
Top comments (1)
This is a textbook founder lesson: building the right solution isn’t enough if you can’t translate it into user-facing value. The real inflection point is when you stop explaining how it works and start communicating why it matters to someone who doesn’t think like a developer.